Leveling Kit for 2015 Sierra Denali Magnetic Ride

[SoonerDPT]

I removed the level kit this morning.

Up for grabs to anyone for $140 shipped.

It just doesn't look right with my 22" wheels.

20's would look better.

When taking out the kit, could you tell what the shop had originally done to correct for the mag ride?

[Horacio]

When taking out the kit, could you tell what the shop had originally done to correct for the mag ride?

Yes, they installed a spacer between the lower sensor arm plate on the lower A arm along with a longer bolt.

[SoonerDPT]

Yes, they installed a spacer between the lower sensor arm plate on the lower A arm along with a longer bolt.

 

Ok, I think I have a pretty good idea what you're talking about. I think a guy posted the other day that he did the same thing using washers. By chance, did you take a picture of it?

[Horacio]

No, I didnt.

[bholifield4901]

So will the 2" Rough Country Level kit give a terrible ride as well? Because the 2.5" kit is actually a Level/Lift Kit. It has the same bottom spacers as the Level Kit and adds a top spacer on the front as well as replacing the rear blocks with an added inch.

[ProModMike]

It will ONLY if you don't compensate for the increased downward angle on the upper control arm. Why? Because that's where the magnetic ride control reads the position of the front suspension from. If the downward angle increases on the upper control arm, which it will regardless of the position of the strut spacer, the mag ride will take this as the suspension coming unloaded and will anticipate sharp impact and will stiffen the shock to minimize the impact, thus giving you a stiffer ride. To fix this, fab up a bracket, many of us who have lifted these Denalis can provide you examples of our versions, and just install it and you'll be just fine. My truck has the FTS 7" kit and rides like a Cadillac. For the rear, if you only add a 2" block in place of the 1" factory, you'll be fine and will notice no difference. Why? because the bracket for the rear mag ride sensors affix to the bottom of the leaf pack BETWEEN the block and the axle. So you can put any size block you want and the truck will not know the difference. However, you have to be careful not to exceed the maximum fully extended length of the stock shock. With just adding an inch, you'll be fine. If more, you'll need to employ a shock extension bracket that can be purchased from FTS or Fabtech.

[mdrew]

For general reference, to anyone wanted to install a mild level, I'll describe what I did.

 

Firstly, I really did not want to "level" this truck. I want some rake, as I do use truck for truck things, like hauling and towing. I will also be installing a cab height shell as soon as it arrives. I was shooting for about 1/2" rake. I have some new wheels and tires on order as well, but nothing big. Just 275/60/20's. Or, 33X11.

 

Not knowing exactly how thick the strut spacer would need to be, I bought one I could easily machine at home on my router table, so I bought the Zone brand 2" level kit spacer kit. Which was basically just two high density plastic spacers 1.125" thick and two new G8 bolts. Some quick math, assuming 1.125" would yield a 2" lift, I machined the blocks down to a thickness of .850". The goal was to raise the front 1.5". Pre/post shim install did in fact lift the front approximately 1.5". It's difficult to get exact measurements, but I'm calling it good enough..... The measurements were from the bottom edge of the front air dam to the garage floor.

 

For the sensor, some measurements were needed. With the weight of the front end on my floor jack, under the lower A-arm, and the wheel/tire removed, I took a straight edge and placed it on the frame. I placed it so that I could take a measurement from the straight edge to the sensor rod bolt that attaches the vertical rod to the bracket that is bolted to the upper A-arm. (NOTE: a jack stand needs to be placed under the frame rails while doing all this). The net distance before the shim install, and then after, was 5/16". This was not enough distance to install an extension bracket, as the center to center bolt holes would be too close. I elected to install shims under the bracket to compensate for the 5/16" difference.

 

I eventually ended up buying some aluminum bar stock, 1/4" thick X 1" in width X 3" in length. I then just cut down the inner corners to the same width as the A-arm, and used double sided 3M tape to stick the aluminum shim to the A-arm with a hole drilled through it for the bracket bolt. To experiment a bit, I also made 1/8" and 1/16" aluminum shims. I wanted to keep the factory ride. And I'll tell you all, an 1/8" difference will give the truck a different ride. Some may not think so, but I suspect they are also installing different tires when they do this. I know the ride is different, as I just re-installed the same wheels / tires.

 

My initial shim was nothing more than a few washers, so I could get the truck re-aligned before installing a more permanent bracket shim solution.

 

After the truck was aligned, I then played around with the aluminum shims. I started with the 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16" shims stacked. This amount gave the truck a noticeably softer ride. Corner roll was also more than the stock ride. At the extreme of my 'experiments', was with the 1/8 and 1/16" shims installed. The ride was stiffer, and corner roll control was better. The 1/4" shim, with the additional thickness of the 3M tape feels the closest to the OE ride.

 

Also, as a tip, bend the bracket, just a tad, prior to bolting it down to the A-arm. The bend will compensate for the compression you will get using the double sided 3M tape. The tape is used to make sure the aluminum shims do not move around on the A-arm, as the bracket ears will wrap around the shim.

Edited June 20, 2015 by mdrew

[mmars89]

For general reference, to anyone wanted to install a mild level, I'll describe what I did.

 

Firstly, I really did not want to "level" this truck. I want some rake, as I do use truck for truck things, like hauling and towing. I will also be installing a cab height shell as soon as it arrives. I was shooting for about 1/2" rake. I have some new wheels and tires on order as well, but nothing big. Just 275/60/20's. Or, 33X11.

 

Not knowing exactly how thick the strut spacer would need to be, I bought one I could easily machine at home on my router table, so I bought the Zone brand 2" level kit spacer kit. Which was basically just two high density plastic spacers 1.125" thick and two new G8 bolts. Some quick math, assuming 1.125" would yield a 2" lift, I machined the blocks down to a thickness of .850". The goal was to raise the front 1.5". Pre/post shim install did in fact lift the front approximately 1.5". It's difficult to get exact measurements, but I'm calling it good enough..... The measurements were from the bottom edge of the front air dam to the garage floor.

 

For the sensor, some measurements were needed. With the weight of the front end on my floor jack, under the lower A-arm, and the wheel/tire removed, I took a straight edge and placed it on the frame. I placed it so that I could take a measurement from the straight edge to the sensor rod bolt that attaches the vertical rod to the bracket that is bolted to the upper A-arm. (NOTE: a jack stand needs to be placed under the frame rails while doing all this). The net distance before the shim install, and then after, was 5/16". This was not enough distance to install an extension bracket, as the center to center bolt holes would be too close. I elected to install shims under the bracket to compensate for the 5/16" difference.

 

I eventually ended up buying some aluminum bar stock, 1/4" thick X 1" in width X 3" in length. I then just cut down the inner corners to the same width as the A-arm, and used double sided 3M tape to stick the aluminum shim to the A-arm with a hole drilled through it for the bracket bolt. To experiment a bit, I also made 1/8" and 1/16" aluminum shims. I wanted to keep the factory ride. And I'll tell you all, an 1/8" difference will give the truck a different ride. Some may not think so, but I suspect they are also installing different tires when they do this. I know the ride is different, as I just re-installed the same wheels / tires.

 

My initial shim was nothing more than a few washers, so I could get the truck re-aligned before installing a more permanent bracket shim solution.

 

After the truck was aligned, I then played around with the aluminum shims. I started with the 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16" shims stacked. This amount gave the truck a noticeably softer ride. Corner roll was also more than the stock ride. At the extreme of my 'experiments', was with the 1/8 and 1/16" shims installed. The ride was stiffer, and corner roll control was better. The 1/4" shim, with the additional thickness of the 3M tape feels the closest to the OE ride.

 

Also, as a tip, bend the bracket, just a tad, prior to bolting it down to the A-arm. The bend will compensate for the compression you will get using the double sided 3M tape. The tape is used to make sure the aluminum shims do not move around on the A-arm, as the bracket ears will wrap around the shim.

 

 

Awesome post, thanks for the details. Would you be able to post some photos of the sensor arm and linkage with shims installed?

 

If you were to guess, what thickness of shimming would be required for a 2.5" RC kit? Or would that be too much to shim and enough to require a custom drop bracket instead?

 

Cheers

[mdrew]

I did not take pics. Not sure when I'd have time to either. The "shim" is just aluminum flat bar that I stuck to the A-arm with tape. I did not want it to move around because the sensor bracket has little ears that hold it in position to the A-arm. So therefore, the shim will need to do the same thing. Just crank the front wheels and stick your head in and take a peak. It'll make more sense if you do.

 

For 2.5", I would guess you'll need about 3/8", plus the tape. You may need a longer bracket bolt too.

[josh684]

I have a Denali with a 7" kit and it rides great.

Nice truck you have. I was wondering if you know of any 4" lifts that will not affect the the magnetic ride? Thanks

[whiskyshooter]

Has anyone tried the suspensionmaxx levelling kit yet? Says it comes with bracket for mag ride

[miccontreras]

Has anyone tried the suspensionmaxx levelling kit yet? Says it comes with bracket for mag ride

I just installed the suspensionmaxx kit on my 2015 Denali. I originally ordered the 1.5" kit and then decided I wanted to go 2" after measuring, so I had them send me the rest of the parts for the 2.5" adjustable leveling kit. The bracket included in their kit is pretty simple, but the bracket has a series of holes on both sides and depending on how much you lift the front dictates which holes you mount the bracket to the truck and which hold you mount the mag ride arm in. Kit went on pretty easily and I've noticed no significant change in the ride. I'm at the alignment shop now getting the truck aligned. As best I can measure, I had just under 3" of rake and now I have less than 1" of rake. I didn't want to go completely level as I have a trailer I pull every once in a while.

 

As I was doing this post, the alignment guy had a question about the alignment specs provided in the kit. I called Larry at SuspensionMaxx and is on the phone with them now telling them what they needed to know to get the truck aligned. Great customer service from these guys based on my experience.

[crushNchowda]

I was in market to buy a '15 GMC, knew I'd eventually level/lift it a bit. Saw this thread from a while back....I was torn on an All Terrain or a Denali (both "loaded" 6.2's), then I remembered this thread and made the easy decision to forego this cluster-F headache of leveling it while keeping an additional $2200 in my back pocket that would have covered the expense of the chrome grill, badges, and fancy cluster that the Denali premium commanded.

 

One thing I don't get is why they offered this magride on the Denali trucks w/o any driver selectable modes, it just "conforms" and adjusts automatically to road conditions?? And then if you wanna level it....sounds like you're just asking for an expensive repair.

 

Kudos to the guys who tried and got it done though, seemed like too much headache for me though

[iridium1]

Miccontreras how is that leveling kit holding up? I just ordered the adjustable kit for mag ride and I'm really hoping it does the trick. What are you running for tires size wise?

[whiskyshooter]

I found another site and the guy posted up some pics of the suspension Maxx install. You can see the mag ride bracket. I'll see if I can find it again